Time Thieves and other crap

My blog is in my head most of the time.  I think to myself "I must write this" or "I'd love to share that".  So where does the time go?  I think there must time thieves hiding in my house who steal all the little chunks of time that I could wisely use to hit the keyboard.

You probably have time thieves in your house too.  The ones that stop you from doing all those jobs you meant to do.  The little bastards that fills your drawers and cupboards with crap like perished rubber bands, odd screws, broken pencils, dried up biro's and ten years worth of supermarket receipts, then won't give you time to have a good clear out!  Yep, you're a fellow sufferer too.  I can see it.

My time thieves (in random order):

• Photography hobby
• Photoshop
• Being at the cat's beck and call
• Volunteer work
• Napping with the cat
• Grumpytrousers
• Books
• Napping with the cat
• Cuddling the cat
• Garden
• Coffee with my neighbour
• Garden centres
• Napping (with the cat.  Again)

Notice I didn't mention shopping.  Apart from doing a necessary food shop, I bloody hate shopping!

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So, perhaps you're wondering about my post-op recovery.  So am I to be honest.  Yes I recovered, and certainly enough to get around and resume normality, though not entirely pain free.   However, after my post operative check up the consultant told me that they'd missed a joint and that it would have to be done again.  Yes, you read that right.  It needs to be done again.  That was in November.  A further check up revealed that I didn't need it doing again.  It was inflamed tendons between the joints.  Various things could be done about that, including tendon compression.  It would still involve an operation but this time with a boot for the recovery.

I am so pissed off with being messed about by the orthopedics department that I had a bit of a rant, said I couldn't face a third operation inside two years and what (if anything) could they possibly offer as an alternative?  Steroid injections.  That's all.

Ok, so I had one last December which worked really well for three months. I was pain free, and while not exactly dancing on the ceiling I could get about fine.  My body felt better, I had no other aches or pains and I didn't touch a painkiller for at least two months.

Further check up in April and yes I could have yet another steroid injection.  I had that last month and it last all of three weeks.  To be fair they did warn me that successive injections would probably not last as long as the first one.  Well they were bang on with that one.  The only thing they seem to have got right.  I'm back at square one now and have absolutely no idea where to go from here.  I see the consultant again next month.  Perhaps he'll write in my notes that I'm stroppy and exasperated!

All kinds of daft stuff.............

Well, the UK weather surpassed itself this weekend.  We had beautiful sunny days with temperatures in the low 20's, thoroughly pleasant evenings worthy of sitting outside with the newspapers and a nice drink.  We had our chums round on Saturday evening and as they only live two doors away they don't have far to stagger home.  In any case, it was a great excuse to sweep and scrub the patio of all the muck and old snail shells that seem to accumulate in corners.  I hate doing that bit so I get Grumpy Trousers to wield the sweeping brush just in case there's any mouse or frog corpses, the discovery of which would send me hurtling up the garden, screeching like a banshee.  I'd be hiding behind the honeysuckle, a quivering wreck until the offending thing was removed.  I'm such a wimp!  Yet, I have no fear of live things; shifting spiders and daddy-long-legs are my speciality.  Weird woman!

So how did you spend your weekend?  Was it warm and sunny for you?  Did you get to the pub, or the park?  Did you go for a walk, sunbathe, or like me sit in the garden with a drink and something to read?  For that short time, all felt well with the world.  Comfy in my relaxing chair, I had no aches or pains, and Polly snoozed contentedly under the patio table in the shade.  

Only later when I tried to struggle out of the chair did my old friend 'Mrs Pain' come to visit.  You see, my foot has been a bugger during this last week.  Sometimes it settles down to a dull ache that I can live with, then at other times it keeps me awake in the night with it's nasty stabbing sensations.  I think this is all down to my hip being a bit more comfortable because I've felt able to do  more activities.  Logic would have it that can only be a good thing but my foot is suffering as a result.   Mrs Pain is clearly overseeing the proceedings, lying in wait for me to feel comfortable then swiftly reminding me that it isn't allowed.  I've called her some right old names these last few days - I'll leave your imagination to guess what. Anyway, enough of that, I'm sick of moaning!

Exciting Challenge!
On Friday this week, I have an exciting and challenging day.  I'm photographing my first wedding!  This is for a friend of my younger daughter, who for some reason has more faith in me than I have myself.  She asked me months ago to take her wedding pictures and it seemed an awfully good idea at the time.  Now of course I'm not so sure, but I'm not going to let her down.  I shall go and do my best; meet the challenges head on; wing-it if I have to, bluff it out where necessary and TRY and behave like a pro.  However, I'm not passing myself off as any kind of professional photographer.  I'm just there to capture a few formal shots inside and outside the church, in the car, cutting the cake etc.  The rest will be random pictures capturing the fun and laughter.  I desperately hope I don't panic and start faffing about during the formal bit.  If I'm under pressure I can soon lose sight of what settings and apertures I need to be using.   I'll be using my trusty tripod though which is an enormous help for keeping the camera steady and the images sharp.  For some wacky reason I seem to have more confidence when using the tripod, rather than hand held.  

Various friends have given me some great advice such as (if hand holding the camera) tucking my elbows in, supporting the lens underneath and pressing the shutter release on an outbreath. It all works as I've tried and tested it so many times, but with 120 wedding guests around me am I going to remember it?  

Here's how I SHOULD be doing it.....

Hopefully I'll look a bit smarter than this geezer.  I plan on swearing my best black trousers and black and white patterned silky blouse.  I'm a guest like everyone else but with all the to-ing and fro-ing and being on my feet for ages, I need to wear my trainers. They're black and hopefully no-one will notice.  

I'll be posting again before Friday; no doubt being quite candid about the butterflies in my tum!

Single minded, or multi tasker?

Hey you!  How are you today?  Better than the weather I hope.

I was surprised to find it's been over a week since I last posted. I have really missed tapping away at the keyboard as my thoughts fall out of my head through to my fingers.  A couple of reasons for my silence is that I've been a bit busy, and also under the weather.

I've been right off-colour for a while but I know the cause so I'm not too worried.  It's just the pain in my hip getting me down.  I get the MRI scan on my foot tomorrow so within a short while I'll know the outcome and what the course of action is going to be.  In the meantime, I'll keep shoving more chemicals into my body hope they keep the pain at bay.

So, the busy bit.....Grumpy Trousers is working on the family ancestry (his side) and literally has stuff everywhere!  I don't mind a bit of untidiness, but his just takes over.  Kitchen worktops, dining room table, spare sofa, spare bed, and any available floor space.  Quite honestly, if we found him a barn to work in, it wouldn't be big enough!  There's nowhere I can go to do anything without having to shift his stuff first.  It's not mess of course, just a bit of organised chaos.  It's how he seems to work.  But frustrating for me because I end up having to deal with it before I can set to and make meals, or set the table.  It's actually better if I shout out to him to move it himself then I don't get into bother for putting it somewhere he can't find it.

I do admire what he's doing though.  I admire his tenacity and determination.  I also admire his single-mindedness, and that is something I don't have.  He can carry on with a job to the cost of almost everything else.  With time slipping away he'll eventually emerge from wherever he is, declaring "blooming 'eck, where's the time gone?" Swiftly followed by "What's for tea?"  Clearly it's his stomach that has a perception of time, not his mind.

Single mindedness is something that's in short supply for me.  When I'm writing, doing research, or some photography I can get lost in time, but generally my brain is multi-tasking despite what I'm working on at that moment.  I have this bizarre perception of time whereby I can suddenly stop what I'm doing and decide the time must be around 11am for example.  I check the clock and sure enough, it's 11am.  I'm rarely wrong on this, and I've often wondered how it happens, or indeed if anyone else is able to do it.  It doesn't help me be any better organised though, as you'll see below.

On the other hand I can be inordinately scatty which I think is the result of  creating several tasks at once - I begin with good intentions, and set out my photography project or writing for that day, then I remember the laundry so I sort it and put in machine but forget to switch it on.  I've been known to leave the dishwasher half emptied, bedroom half vacuumed, toilet cleaner put round the bowl but has been there so long it stuck and won't flush away......need I go on?   I used to be so good at completing things in a timely fashion but now I seem to bog myself down.  I blame daytime TV, Facebook, Spotify, Amazon, eBay, face-packs, gassing with the neighbours (though not with a face pack on - I do have SOME level of dignity).............I can see this is leading to procrastination, can't you?

(image from Microsoft Clipart)

So, it all gets done eventually but with a kind of scattergun approach.  I'm not too bothered mind you, there's a fair amount of coffee and the occasional biscuit consumed while I'm thinking of how else I can entrench myself in interesting distractions.

Nice news

Not just Nice News but GOOD News
On Monday I had my last session with Andrew at Spirit Acupuncture.  It was a good session and by the time I left the building I was feeling really fit and well.  Nothing hurt anywhere.  I was walking comfortably, and my trademark waddle was down to a minimum.  How good that felt!  It's been a long time since I experienced  that and quite honestly it brought about a few teary moments.  So thankful was I to have a semblance of normality back.

It lasted through yesterday too when Grumpy Trousers and I went to The Photography Show at The NEC, Birmingham.  It's a bit of a trek from the car park into the exhibition centre, and once in there it's at least another 10 minute walk to get to the Halls.  I managed all that with no pain.  Walking without the gait, and striding out at a brisk pace put me on rather a high so I got quite giggly!  It was a lovely sunny day too, not particularly warm but the light levels were strong and lifted my elevated spirits even more.

I'd been looking forward to the show for a while, but was actually dreading the trek around, shuffling along with the crowds knowing the strain on my hip would become unbearable before too long.  But none of that happened.  I was pain free, and because we'd chosen to go mid-week the crowds were not in such abundance. There were still lots of people but  bags of space to move along comfortably.

I've loved photography for as long as I can remember, and to be there amongst the big names together with being offered opportunities to photograph models was irresistible.  We visited all the stands, marvelling at  the latest cameras, looking on in wonderment at the professional equipment, seeing radical new ways with wall art.....the list is endless!  

I went with an open mind about how much I might spend, although I'd set myself a modest budget.  That all went out of the proverbial window within 10 minutes after I enrolled on a course with The Photographer Academy.  The show prices were rather a bargain and it was too good to miss.   It was dear, patient Grumpy Trousers who suggested I enrol.  I dithered for a while, aware that I was about to bust my budget, but considering what came with the package it was a no-brainer.  You see, my skills have reached a level where I can't progress much more without some serious help, so I consider this to be an investment.  Bless him, Grumpy was just wonderful yesterday showing lots of interest and giving me encouragement. That was so nice as I do worry that he may not be enjoying things as much, but he was absolutely fine. 

So, here's a few images shot through the crowd.  They illustrate what opportunities were available.

Models on the Hasselblad stand

The Catwalk workshop on posing and lighting with Frank Doorhof, a Dutch celebrity and fashion photographer